Here is a guest-post from RH Bee of Finance for Fun. In the forums, RH asked: “How come I rarely come across posts that have to do with the ecology in the personal finance blogs I read? I mean they talk about growing their own food, and spending less on doodads, but none of them mention that this is a way to save the planet.” My response was: “Write something and I'll post it!” So he did.

Bill McKibben's new book, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, strikes at the heart of personal finance concerns. McKibben covers the world from Vermont to China and back again as he develops his answer to the age-old question, “Paper or plastic?” And though he doesn't mention that the honey bees are dying, he would no doubt notice the parallel between these small nectar-farming bees and their human counterparts, who, as a result of the so-called Green Revolution, are disappearing.

In an early section of the book, he discusses After Growth and asks, “What next?” Where do we go after we've reached a place where we have every thing we need and more? Is More Better? McKibben asks this question of individuals, but in a larger sense, he's directing it towards society, and to those whose power position would enable them to act on the information. He notes that ecological economists are discovering that the there is truth to the saying, “Less is More”.

The next section of the book, The Year of Eating Locally, documents the experience of living frugally while learning the personal financial benefits. By living locally, McKibben gets to know his community markets and the local farm industry. By setting a goal of eating locally for a year, he and his family begin to appreciate the value of home-cooked meals, reading with each other, and budgeting their car use so that they stack tasks that can be done on the same trip. In a sense, he travels back to a time when things were simpler.

This, quite naturally, leads him to look at how we and why things have changed in the next section, entitled All for One, or One for All. He writes:

For most of human history, the two birds More and Better roosted on the same branch… The idea that individuals, pursuing their own individual interests in a market society make one another richer and the idea that increasing efficiency, usually by increasing scale, is the key to increasing wealth has indisputably produced More. But Better does not necessarily follow anymore.

We can't deny that, as Americans, we lead the world in over-consumption, and it's getting worse. We are hyper-individualists as we try to emulate Trump through what seems endless seminar after seminar. But I must stress, as McKibben does, that there are two sides to the economic coin. Nation after nation has profited immensely by turning to the green — as in mono-crop agriculture and government subsidized growth. As more and more people are released from the drudgery of the land and released to develop, we can't fault them for doing this just because we, the richer nations, are already there.

But it is because of this truth that McKibben talks about The Wealth of Communities in the book's next section. What can we bring to each other? And how can we trust that we're doing it for the right reasons?

We need to once again depend on those around us for something real. If we do, then the bonds that make for human satisfaction, as opposed to endless growth, will begin to emerge.

Much as the personal finance community of bloggers has. A community where we reassure ourselves that planning, and sharing, and saving, and making do with what you have already, is of continuing value to us all. As an example of this, McKibben uses the current state of radio, where large corporate entities like Clear Channel have taken over. Ask yourself: In your lifetime has More big corporate-owned broadcasting made your radio listening Better?

As I walk down the hill to my local grocery this afternoon, I am reading the final section of the book, which McKibben calls The Durable Future. He starts by describing his visit to the Chinese city of Yiwu with its incredible warehouse store called International Trade City. Imagine five IKEAs side by side by side by side by side and you'll still fall short.

Yes, the Chinese economy, in a wonderful mirror model of the U.S., is expanding by leaps and bounds. The per capita income is already at $1700 a year, and is expected to double every seven years, ad infinitum, as is the rate of production. Extrapolate that to the number of vehicles on their roads. Think about the carbon footprint that will leave. Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Walt Kelly drew this strip in 1971.

The question as we look into the mirror of personal finance is: “Are we a reflection of our culture and its spending habits, or is it the collective reflection of ours?”

In the grocery store, I find the vitamin water I came for. I also select a bunch of carrots grown by an organic farmer just outside of town. As I'm approaching the counter, I see the display of 10-for-$10 durable grocery bags that I can buy to carry my groceries home. I'm happy because here, in a nutshell, is one of McKibben's economic ideas: Think global, buy local.

But when I get home I look at the label in the bag. It's from a company called Earthwise Reusable Bags. It's durable alright, made from 100% non-woven polypropylene. And manufactured in China.

I haven't read McKibben's first book, The End of Nature, but it's clear that whatever thoughts he brought to the state of our world then have only intensified. But as he points out, countries that adopt the U.S. model of endless expansion and increased efficiency are not at fault for doing so. It's just that we — and I'm thinking of personal finance bloggers when I say this — haven't yet shown them what to do next with all their abundance. We have a chance to model, through our own efforts at controlling and understanding our personal finances, to be a part of the change that may still save the world.

This book sounds fascinating. While I'm concerned that perhaps it treads dangerously close to some fallacies (“Old days were simpler and therefor easier”), I can appreciate the thoughtful approach to the subject. I'm happy to share your ideas about personal finance, too, whether they involve ecology, spirituality, child-rearing, or philosophy. If you have an idea for a guest-entry, please let me know!

Author: Guest Author

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There are 9 reader responses to "Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future".

MGsays

Cool. We belong to a local natural foods
co-op where the emphasis is on buying from local sources wherever possible. Even the bread. We buy only bio-degradable household cleaners which protects our health in the long term because we are not exposing ourselves to toxic fumes. Foods in their natural state (“whole foods”) are not only better for us, but we are in our 50’s and do not have any health problems that our contemporaries have because of buying organic/sustainable for at least 25 years. Living and shopping wisely is like a well-managed retirement fund: the money one spends on sensible eating and living translates to a huge savings on prescription drugs and supplements later in life. Quality supplements are very expensive (i.e.: carotec.com) and because we have been attentive to this, we have been able to narrow our purchases down to just a few: Co-Q10, Alpha Lipoic Acid, sawpalmetto, and Natren pro-biotics. This means more money going into our portfolios. The best thing is that we have raised our kids on a natural diet with healthy living home care. The first time I took them to a “regular” supermarket they saw M & M’s displayed at the checkout- so funny: they did not even know what M & M’s were – they thought they were little balls for playtime. “Look Mom, little balls!” LOL
This health heritage they have is the best thing I could provide for them.

It’s easy to say that more isn’t better when you have the quality of life and disposable income to make these sorts of selective pat-yourself-on-the-back choices.

Would you rather not have the store that sells overpriced organic foods and faux-environmental shopping bags? Would you rather not have the PC and the website to post meandering articles? Would it be better if you had to walk to the store?

Where’s the cutoff point for when progress became a burden? Electricity? Automobiles? Cell phones? Internet access? It’s very easy to take the “more” that you agree with, and then look down on others’ excesses as if you know something they don’t.

Brad, you remind me of an old play by Peter Weiss entitled “The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis De Sade” (I’ve always loved saying that whole title) In the play, which takes place during the French Revolution, the main character, John Paul Marat, begins to list what really happens in a revolution. He says, we start off by saying throw everything out and begin over, but then little by little we realize that one person wants to keep his house, another wants her town, another wants their country, and suddenly we’re right back where we started. That’s the brief version. But if you read McKibben’s books, this one especially, you’ll see that he isn’t recommending a revolution. He is asking the questions that may lead the have’s to a way of using the economy rather than abusing it. For example, are any of those disposable cell phones, razors, plastic bags, etc., showing up in your ocean? Is this more making our life better? If the undeveloped nations, don’t have these things yet then where are they coming from. US. Think about Europe and Latin America, are they going to slowly come around to the US way of dealing with smoking? See in some ways, we are already modeling a more sensible and durable future. He is suggesting, and I agree, we need to recognize the need and then continue to do more. That’s what will make things get better.

Hmmm… im a little bit skeptic here:
Quote :
It’s just that we – and I’m thinking of personal finance bloggers when I say this – haven’t yet shown them what to do next with all their abundance.
Are you talking about people in China? Just to let you know that the average saving per capita in China is approximately 30% according to The Economist… Unless you were talking about someone else…

And the question “What next?” hasn’t been answered. Ive come up with my 101 things in 1001 days because of your inspiration and I personnaly wish to setup my own scholarship in durable urban planning (of course, Portland is a huge reference). But what will people do with their money?

According to the May 13th edition of China Economic Net those 30% savings have just gone stock market bubble. More than 9.1 Billion dollars was transferred to stock market accounts since Jan 1. It appears that just as your info seems to be lagging behind the reality. I still see streets filled with bikes, you still think they will remain savers. What I’d like to know is if there are any Chinese Persoanl Finance Blogs? Or will they too have to wait until the bubbles burst?

I thought that the part of the point was that once you get to the point where you have enough, then bigger isn’t necessarily better. I’m all for increased efficiency and improved ways of doing things – including living, but I’m not a big fan of buying more and more stuff in an attempt to have a better life and there’s no reason why anyone else in any other part of the world should be either.

I wonder what they think about us, the chinese workers at that store. Thousands upon thousands items waiting to be sent to the richest country in the world, and there they are eating rice cakes and learning about McDonald’s and McMansions.

As much as I respect Bill McKibben, like most environmentalists he focuses on technical solutions for global warming and ecological disaster. His approach falls under the “persuasive” category. What truly impairs us as a people (and as good managers of our personal finances) is our underlying psychology. “Greed is good” is not said much these days, but it sure is practiced. And it has become our lifestyle, our destiny.

McKibben, like many persuasive environmentalists, comes across as an old moralist, day dreaming about the better days gone by. We need a breakthough, perhaps a disaster of epic proportions, to scare us from our complacent life of production, consumption, and affluence.

The pessimist in me says that there may be no hope. After all, we have been hunters and gatherers for millions of years, during which time we needed to gather as much as possible because we did not know when the next drought would hit. This force is in our genes. We have only been ridiculously affluent (China included) for a couple hundred years. Our genes are ruling us – gather, take, consume, consume more, hoard, buy, ad nauseum.

My optimistic side says that some day someone (or some movement) will really stike a chord in us enough that we will override our genes and we will change. We will truly understand the difference between a need and a want. And, strangely enough, we will be damn good financial managers because we won’t be so tempted by the greed that overwhelms us.

I wonder if that crisis of which you speak is not already upon us. I am reminded of an older sci fi novel by John Brunner called the Sheep Look Up. In it he poses a world that through its excesses has reached a point of ecologic and social failure. Wars rage, Greed rules, the systems of food and water fail. And yet, there are those who believe that there is a way to change all this. These rebels place their hope in the idea that reason and “the inherent good” in humankind will save the day.

I am afraid that I lean towards your more pessimistic view. And so it goes.

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My name is J.D. Roth. I started Get Rich Slowly in 2006 to document my personal journey as I dug out of debt. Then I shared while I learned to save and invest. Twelve years later, I've managed to reach early retirement! I'm here to help you master your money — and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you get rich slowly. Read more.

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